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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Canto 4 · The Creation of the Fourth Order · 31 chapters

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
  2. 2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
  3. 3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
  4. 4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
  5. 5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
  6. 6Write down what touched you. Note the main points in your own notebook.
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Canto 4 · Chapter 10: Dhruva Mahārāja’s Fight with the Yakṣas
4.10.11-124.10.14

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 4.10.13

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Maitreya Ṛṣisince 4.10.6inside 3 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → Vidura

औत्तानपादि: स तदा शस्त्रवर्षेण भूरिणा ।

न एवाद‍ृश्यताच्छन्न आसारेण यथा गिरि: ॥ १३ ॥

auttānapādiḥ sa tadā

śastra-varṣeṇa bhūriṇā

na evādṛśyatācchanna

āsāreṇa yathā giriḥ

Translation

Dhruva Mahārāja was completely covered by an incessant shower of weapons, just as a mountain is covered by incessant rainfall.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Pressure Gives Dhruva New Vigor

  1. 1

    Dhruva Mahārāja was completely covered by weapons, like a mountain covered by incessant rain. This did not mean that he had succumbed in battle.

  2. 2

    Rain washes dirty things from the body of a mountain. The comparison shows that the attack did not simply weaken Dhruva Mahārāja.

  3. 3

    The enemy’s shower of arrows gave him new vigor to defeat them. Whatever incompetency he might have had was washed away.

Key points from the purport
  • Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura points out in this connection that although Dhruva Mahārāja was covered by the incessant arrows of the enemy, this does not mean that he succumbed in the battle.
  • The example of a mountain peak’s being covered by incessant rain is just suitable, for when a mountain is covered by incessant rain, all dirty things are washed from the body of the mountain.
  • Similarly, the incessant shower of arrows from the enemy gave Dhruva Mahārāja new vigor to defeat them.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

How it feels

Rejection → Transformed aspiration. A child's wounded pride is purified by divine encounter.

Chapters 8–12 of Canto 4: Dhruva seeks and encounters the Lord. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 10: Dhruva Mahārāja’s Fight with the Yakṣas

After Uttama is killed by a Yakṣa, Dhruva fights the Yakṣas and faces their illusions.

Back to this verse in chapter 4.10
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. auttānapādiḥDhruva Mahārāja
  2. saḥhe
  3. tadāat that time
  4. śastra-varṣeṇaby a shower of weapons
  5. bhūriṇāincessant
  6. nanot
  7. evacertainly
  8. adṛśyatawas visible
3

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Īśānukathā · The science of God

    Who is the Lord, and how do His devotees live? · Subject 7 of 10

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does the mountain comparison change your understanding of Dhruva Mahārāja’s difficulty?

Practice

Write one sentence explaining why being covered by arrows did not mean Dhruva Mahārāja was defeated.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayPressure Gives Dhruva New VigorThis verse's lesson: one practice and one question for today

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.

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